Jakarta Casual

An off beat look at Indonesian and South East Asian football from the terraces or the pub

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Thursday, August 30, 2012

Stags In The Dinosaur Age

It's a South East Asian thing. They have this obsession that players are never fit enough and the answer is more stamina work. It's a refrain I have heard many times over the years, usually from foreign players more used to relaxed regimes where they use that round thing.

Not here. Gruelling multi kilometre runs are the norm followed by training! Days off after a game? Fooorget it. Sweat some more.

The new coach at Tampines Rovers has now gone down this route. He has decided, with just about three months left of the season that his players need to work on their fitness!

Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis would never get jobs in this part of the world. They are far too advanced for these dinosaurs!

Should be sweat down an old pros cleavage though for the likes of Mustafic Fahruddin and Noh Alam Shah who both spent time in Indonesia.

You know what? It would be a nice gesture from the TPL if they moved the Osotspa back 24 hours. You know, to allow the team an extra 24 hours to recuperate after a bloody long flight and 90 minutes arguing with biased refs.

Michiels Stuck In The Middle

Diego Michiels was one of the handful of players brought
over by the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) to add some zest to what had
become a predictable national team.

With an Indonesian father, Michiels was eligible and to
press his claims he gave up his career in the Netherlands, where he played for
Go Ahead Eagles, and was snapped up by Pelita Jaya.

The 22 year old left back made an immediate impression in
the 2011 SEA Games when Indonesia just lost out to Malaysia on penalties in the
final. But Michiels performances impressed many and, unlike Kim Jeffrey
Kurinawan and Irfan Bachdim before him who were both brought over from Europe
to play in the national team, Michiels had attitude which many related to.

Unfortunately he was soon unwittingly caught up in the
imbroglio that continues to harm Indonesian football. Pelita Jaya, the club he
had signed for, played in the unofficial Indonesia Super League and when the
PSSI announced no played in the ISL would be called up for the national team he
was in a quandary.

Playing for the national team was major motivation for him
in taking Indonesian citizenship.

After a couple of games he switched clubs, joining Persija
in the officially sanctioned Indonesia Premier League.

That made him eligible, again, for the national team and
with continued good performances for his new club he was called up by the full
national team for his debut in a World Cup Qualifier away to Bahrain. It was a
debut to forget as Indonesia lost 10-0!

With a busy September lined up for the national team, coach
Nil Maizar called up the 22 year old for the training camp ahead of the friendlies.

But games against the likes of Everton, Galatasaray and
Espanyol failed to materialize and in the meantime Michiels had signed for
Arema on loan with the aim of playing in their AFC Cup quarter final against Al
Ettifaq later in the month.

Michiels reportedly quit the training camp to join his new
Arema team mates as they prepare for their crucial games later in the month,
putting him directly in conflict with the national team who have friendlies
that clash with the Arema game.

Clearly Michiels has decided to put club before country and
Maizar has responded by dropping him from the team. Considering playing for Indonesia was a major motivator, what changed?

Where that leaves Michiels is as unclear as where Indonesian
football stands. For a young man just wanting to play football, he finds
himself caught in the middle of the maelstrom that surrounds the game and is
damaging the very assets it is supposed to protect and develop.

UPDATE - since I posted this Diego has been on Twitter giving his side of the story.

#1 You ask me to stay few times but I told you I have a contract and they need me and that I'm back next month if u still need me#2 few other players go out for many days you don't know where they are, but about that I don't hear you talkin about#3 I have a contract I must follow the contract 26th september my contract ends and I told you to come back then

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Teflon One

Thai FA chief Worawi Makudi plans to file a countersuit against a South Korean company which is sueing him for fraud.

Daihan 21 (now Daihan Yonhap) yesterday filed a lawsuit with the Criminal Court against the Football Association of Thailand and its president Worawi claiming that they tricked the company into joining a business to oversee the commercial and broadcasting rights for the FAT from 2007-2011.

The firm claimed it had transferred a total of US$900,000 to an FAT's bank account but the two parties have since failed to give the company the rights.

The court set the initial hearing on Nov 12.

Worawi said the move was aimed at discrediting his reputation and that he would file his own suit against the company.

"Which account? I know nothing about it," Worawi said.

"I have been working very hard for Thai football but am still bullied so I have to fight."

Meanwhile, Supachai Chaisamut, chairman of the House committee on counter-corruption has asked Worawi to show the committee the FAT's tax payment record.

"I will certainly go to see them but I wonder why they ask me to meet them," he said. "This is a matter of the FAT overseeing its commercial rights which has nothing to do with the public sector."

COMMENT - what planet do these people live on? This is the guy who offered to support England's world cup bid in return for England playing a friendly in Bangkok then reneging on the offer.

Exciting Kunalan Returns

PETALING JAYA: Negri Sembilan are hitting top gear and coach Mohd Azraai Khor Abdullah is grinning from ear to ear.

The defending champions started off with a lacklustre 1-1 draw with Felda United in their opening Group C match but proved their title aspirations by whipping Sime Darby 4-0 in their second match on Saturday.

Negri and Felda are now the front runners to go through to the next round as Perak and Sime Darby FC have only one point each.

Azraai, who led Negri to their third Malaysia Cup success last season, said it was still too early to talk about the quarter-finals as they have to beat Perak at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi tonight.

“Nothing is assured yet as we need to beat Perak first before thinking about the quarter-finals,” said Azraai.

“It will be a tricky match but we need to seal the points. Perak are wounded tigers after having lost their last match. We must maximise our home ground advantage,” said Azraai.

Negri’s on-loan midfielder K. Thanaraj will miss the match through suspension after collecting two yellow cards but crowd favourite S. Kunalan will be returning after serving out a two-match ban.

Cameroonian striker Jean-Emmanuell Owona, who bagged a hat-trick against Sime Darby, will once again spearhead the attack with on-loan striker Khairul Izuan Abdullah.

Azraai believes that if his team follow the game plan, they can retain the Cup.

“The team have been playing to instructions and if they continue to do so, it is possible for us to win the Cup again,” said Azraai.

“Owona is really in form and his partnership with Khairul is clicking. Kunalan’s return to the team also strengthens our defence, so I can say that we are in a good position.”

Espanyol Reserves Not Coming

Indonesia will not be be facing a European reserve team.

The PSSI had recently announced the national team would be playing Espanyol reserves in Jakarta on 5th September in a friendly.

When I checked the Espanyol website a few days back there was no mention of this game. Which is odd. You would think them travelling half way round the world for a game of football would have been of interest.

Anyway the PSSI later announced Espanyol would not be coming because they had reserve games lined up on 2nd and 9th of September.

Now for my twopennyworth. My understanding is that Espanyol are/were keen to come to Indonesia, ostensibly to cash in on the Arthur Irwan connection, but they had not agreed to any date. Perhaps there was some surprise their end when the PSSI announced the game as a done deal.

The PSSI have a habit of announcing games only to later sheepishly say they won't happen because the supposed opponent has other commitments. And that is an accusation that can be aimed at both the former and current regimes.

A game against the Philippines was similarly announced then pulled.

This is where the local media has a role. Instead of just parroting announcements from Senayan they should be working their own sources, FIFA.com springs to mind.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Arema's Next Coach

Interest is reaching fever pitch levels over who will take the reigns at Arema ISL. One name that looks like he won't be returning for a second stint there is Miroslav Janu who has reportedly signed on with Persela for another season.

One name continually linked is Robert Alberts. The Dutch coach is now with Sarawak but remains a contender for a return to Malang where of course he guided Arema to the Indonesia Super League back in 2009/2010.

One more name is Milomir Seslija. He has also coached Arema but he was with the IPL version!

Another name seemingly thrown in the hat today? Former Mitra Kukar and Philippines coach Simon McMenemy!

You can be sure some names will be mentioned tomorrow as the Arema job is one of the top jobs in the country...

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Raging Bulls

For me one of the success stories of last season's SLeague was the return of Tanjong Pagar. They officially add United to their name but that's plain daft. United with what?

Anyway, they got thumped by all and sundry but they also had a real go at some of the bigger teams and earned themselves a handful of good results with such a young squad. OK, it was 12 games before they got their first win and they only won three games but they did give a good account of themselves.

This time round they have already won four games half way through the season. And they have managed just 11 goals this season in their 17 games.

But on Friday they travelled to Choa Chu Kang Stadium, a venue where home team SAFFC once went yonks unbeaten, and won 1-0!

Yes SAFFC are a pale shadow of those heady days and yes they had Noh Rahman red carded. But it doesn't matter. What matters is Tanjong Pagar earned themselves a famous victory.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Indonesia Compete In Vietnam Under 21

Vietnam is forever hosting age group competitions; so many I can't keep track of them all. However Indonesia will be competing in one of them!

The Thanh Nien Tournament will be held in Gia Lai in October and according to ASEAN Football Indonesia will compete alongside Malaysia, Singapore, Iraq and Syria. I presume the hosts will also be taking part.

The Thais have also been invited but not yet replied. It does seem that Thailand, so long the dominant power in the region, have all but give up on international football; a consequence of a popular, and politicaly strong, domestic league.

Malaysian Youth Signs For Italian Team

A 15 year-old Malaysian footballer, Sean Gan Giannelli, will join Italian Club Atletico Arezzo's Under-17 team in the Tuscany region on Aug 20 after having impressed the club's coaches and technical staff.

Sean, who is of Italian-Malaysian parentage, is a student of Bukit Jalil Sports School and trains and plays with the Under-17 Bukit Jalil squad, the feeder squad of the Malaysian national team.

His father, Massimo, told Bernama from Milan that he was proud of his son's progress in the sport as he is the first Malaysian to enter Italy's youth football club system after attending trials in June.

"He is a very ambitious young man and his goal in life is to play professional football at the highest level in Europe and from what he has achieved so far, the sky is the limit," he said, adding that he was now making preparations for Sean's stay in Italy.

He said Sean, a striker, impressed with his pace and technical skills at Arezzo, a Serie D club now led by head coach Abel Balbo, a former Argentinian national player who had played alongside soccer legend Maradona.

Balbo, who had scored 150 goals in Italy's Serie A as a striker, had played with AS Roma, Udinese, Fiorentina, Parma and Boca Juniors.

FIFA Tell Si Sa Ket Pay Up

FIFA have actually made a decision. Nope, it's not April Fool's Day.

Like much of South East Asia, Thai club Si Sa Ket have been dicking FIFA round for a pretty long time. They were ordered to pay former coach David Booth $225,000 back in February but of course they never bothered. (Complete story can be found here).

Now FIFA have decreed Si Sa Ket must pay 483,000 Thai Baht or face being deducted six points. If they fail to pay then the club will be automatically relegated.

Good luck to Booth, who is now coaching Phnom Penh Crown, getting his money back. But aren't FIFA's threats all a bit hollow? Do Si Sa Ket even exist anymore?

FIFA have shown in the past they are all piss and wind when it comes to South East Asian nations; with the exception of Brueni who they suspended but then they are a tiny country and no one goes there for holidays.

The Indonesian FA have been happily ignoring FIFA for several years and the world's governing body have done nothing beyond send some stern letters.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

LionsX11 Increase Malaysia Cup Prices

LionsX11 are back in the Malaysia Cup and in their opening group they sure won't be able to complain too much about the travelling with two teams from Johor across the causeway and a team from Selangor up by KL to get past.

Duric Double Douses Doubters

When Raddy Avramovic announced his squad to play Hong Kong in a friendly there were the usual whines in Singapore. Not Duric. Not again. He's too old. Why, they whined, do we have to rely on a 42 year old foreigner?

Why indeed.

Singapore defeated Hong Kong 2-0 yesterday and both goals were scored by that old man, Duric. That's 25 goals in 47 international appearances.

Now I may be now coach but those numbers suggest why he is still Raddy's first choice. Them numbers don't lie.

The man keeps himself incredibly fit, rarely misses games through injury.

Compare that with Robin van Persie who Manchester United have just spunked 23 million quid on. You can imagine all the Singaporean Man U fans flocking to buy the latest replica shirt and paying to have RVP's name on the back despite the fact he has spent most of his career injured.

Yet they complain about someone in their own backyard who keeps himself fit and does the business year in, year out.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Chantaburi Heading For The Drop

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that Chantaburi are favourites to get relegated from Division One in Thailand. I know, it's not often I go out on a limb like that but I just get that feeling that their days are numbered in Thailand's second tier.

Never seen them play so can't say I have any special insight. Let's just call it intuition. It helps that the league table shows they are bottom of the table with just two points from their first 22 games of the season. Enough to put them 13 points behind the team just above them, Raj Pracha.

Their points have come from their home games where they have a pretty impressive record, drawing two and losing just nine times. They have also rattled in eight of their fourteen goals at home which suggests an intimidating fortress over there towards the Cambodian border.

Still, the fans have stayed pretty loyal! 420 saw their defeat at home to Phuket which was more than TTM Chiang Mai scored for a recent home game in the Premier League

Persib Cull Foreign Players

Not sure when the new Indonesia Super League will start, recent suggestions are November, but Persib, as ever, are doing their planning early.

Out go four of their five foreigners. Singaporean Noh Alam Shah, currently on a short loan with Tampines Rovers, Brazilian Marcio Souza, Aussie Robbie Gaspar and Miljan Radovic will have to find new clubs.

Defender Herman Abanda is the only foreign player being kept on by Persib. New coach Jajang Nurjaman apparently has his eye on some replacements.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Singapore Eye League Cup Expansion?

In more bad news for the few remaining fans of Singapore
football officials have been so delighted not just with the League Cup but the
Plate as well, for those poor buggers knocked out at the group stage, yep, gone
are the days when an early exit from the unloved League Cup meant you could
concentrate in the league.

I understand from sources close to the Jalan Besar
hierarchy, well Mabel, that the FA are considering tinkering yet further with
the competition.

The four teams that get knocked out at the quarter final
stage will, from next year, go on to play in a mini league among themselves. To
maximize interest, and further wet the knickers of a breathless football
public, the four teams will play each other not once, like in most knockout
competitions, and not twice like most league formats. Nope, these lucky four
clubs will play each other three times! Once at home, once away and once at a
neutral stadium to ‘spread the love.’

The top two teams will then play off to decide who wins
while the bottom two teams will likewise play off to decide the 3/4th
place play off.

In keeping with the domestic kitchen theme that runs through
the League Cup, we have the Cup and the Plate, this new format will be called
the Napkin.

Mabel says officials are really excited about the new format
and there was some talk that it could be introduced later this year but someone
pointed out the calendar is already full. Undeterred, they will add the Napkin
to next year’s competition schedule.

One highly placed source says the plan fits in perfectly
with the FA’s vision and 6 year strategic plan as the new format will increase
attendances, some hoping that up to 20 fans may buy tickets for some games, and
raise the profile of the game even higher. ‘We want Singapore to become known
as a hub for innovation in football and League Cup 3.0 is proof of our
determination to achieve that goal’ says one.

Apparently one attendee talked about KPIs more than anyone else and won a free Happy Meal from a fast food chain.

One local blogger, refusing to be named, said the Napkin is
a good idea and is not ‘to be sneezed at.’

FIFA Inaction Encourages Brinkmanship

The Indonesia Super League is mumbling about starting up
again in November. There was initially talk that a unified league would kick
off in January but given the lack of progress on that particular front the ISL
seems to want to go it alone placing it on another collision course with
FIFA and the AFC.

Of course had FIFA and the AFC shown any kind of leadership
in the past, notably when the previous head of the PSSI was behind bars, then
we may not be in this particular muddle. A muddle for sure but a different one.

The people who run the ‘official’ league claim the idea of
the ISL starting up in November is just a lack of communication. Apparently, so
one guy was quoted as saying, the joint committee tasked with unifying the game
behind one body and with one league, hasn’t met for a long time!

Well, duh!

Indonesian football continues to stick two fingers to the
domestic stakeholders, players and fans, and the international bodies who are
supposed to run the game according to agreed rules and regulations. The fact
that the two parties haven’t met for a while speaks volumes about the desire in
the game to sort the mess out.

Towards the end of last season the players union threatened
to go on strike. That was nothing but the meow of a paper tiger that, deep
down, is reluctant to face down the people who run the game in the country. The
suits control the finances and they have proven loathe to part with that cash
no matter what a contract says.

The remit of FIFA stops at Indonesia’s borders
and until they, as the body responsible for the running of the game, take
action nothing will change.

You're Gonna Get Your Bottom Line Kicked In

I was immensely tickled to read about some disturbances at a
recent Thailand Premier League game between TOT and Bangkok Glass. Tickled
because these are two of the corporate clubs that litter the football landscape
in the country and, for me at least, I find it hard to get excited about a club
that is just an extension of a corporate entity.

The plastic water bottle throwing at the weekend, always the
water bottles, excited me though. If fans of corporate clubs can get excited
enough to lob bits of plastic at each other what else can they do? For most
fans of real football clubs we have to make do with 90 minutes abuse, a walk
through the back streets to the station after the game and a bit of banter at
work in the Monday.

But the corporate clubs? Imagine, for example, a fan of TOT
who has a successful business. He may decide, if he loathed Bangkok Glass
enough, to have the windows at his office smashed in then call Bangkok Glass
for a quote. Not give them the work of course but just string them along, costing
them time, effort and money with no hope of a return.

Of course a Bangkok Glass fan could do similar. He could
decide such was his visceral loathing for TOT football club he wants to find a
new telecommunications provider.

The options are endless in Thailand. If you get annoyed at
BEC Tero then stop watching the TV channel that owns them. Fed up with the ref
giving Muang Thong United all the 50/50s? Then stop using their cement! Pattaya
United get a last minute winner against you? Visit Phuket next vacation.
Unhappy with the antics of Police United players? Secretly video the next
shakedown and post it on You Tube. Buriram United come from 7-0 down with two
minutes on the clock to win 14-7? Move your factory and your friends’ factories
to the north east and instruct your staff to vote for the other lot. Hate the
hotel you have to stay in Chiang Mai when playing TTM? Stop smoking!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Some A League Thoughts

When it comes to countries nutty about sport, few are nuttier
than the Australians. Australia; where a horse race can bring the county to a
standstill; where men in tight, very tight shorts chase an odd shaped ball are
often cheered on by 70,000 nutty spectators; where two types of rugby are
popular and they excel in both.

Traditionally the different codes of football have had their
own powerbase. The Australian Football League grew up in Melbourne, for a long
period of time it was known as the Vitoria Football League or VFL even after it
made its first tentative moves away from its traditional base and across the
country.

The AFL ladder can still bear an uncanny resemblance to a
Melbourne map. Clubs like Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton and St Kilda have a
very definite supporter base that has built up over many decades of success or
mid table oblivion.

While some Melbourne based teams have fallen by the wayside,
the code has flourished elsewhere with cities across the country represented in
the national league.

AFL, not having to answer to a tiresome world governing body,
has developed its own way, it has taken the franchise system made popular in
the USA, Sydney Swans started life as a Melbourne team, added the draft system
o allow struggling clubs an equal opportunity of getting the best players while
keeping the traditional rivalries and laddish culture that epitomizes sport in
many European countries.

To those not familiar the game may look like a mixture of
basketball, ballet and rugby but for its aficionados, who pass their club down
to the next generation there is no rival to the footy.

Unfortunately football in Australia, the round ball sort
enjoyed by just about every country in the world, has yet to have a similar
impact domestically. For sure players like Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill have
raised the profile of the game internationally but back home it remains a very
poor cousin to AFL and the rugby codes.

It’s not hard to see why. Rather than adopting the AFL model
of applying US business sense to the European notion of identifying with your
local team, they have fully embraced the American model. So when the league was
started clubs set up shop round the country based on licenses issued by the FA.

Teams were given names like Sydney or Brisbane Roar. Bland,
US franchise style names that bore more resemblance to a video store or a fast
food outlet selling fried chicken.

As a football fan I would find it very difficult to get
excited about a team called Perth Glory or Melbourne Heat. Essonden and Carlton
in AFL, Heat and Victory in the A League?

Ironically there was already in place a number of teams which
boasted grassroots support. Teams like
St George, Marconi and APIA Leichhardt in Sydney, South Melboure Hellas,
Preston Makedonia and Heidleburg Alexandra in Melbourne were recognizable in
the local community as local football clubs but they were never really embraced
by their local communities.

A Large crowd watches Heidleberg Alexander and Preston Makedonia

As the names suggest, there was a strong ethnic bias implicit
within the football clubs. When Sydney Croatia met Melbourne Croatia the game
was billed as the Croatian derby in the local media!

Unfortunately the ethnic qualifier on the club name
discouraged a wider fan base and those clubs that did try to break the mould
were usually doomed to failure as the Aussie sporting public failed to respond
to a game they derisorily called ‘wog ball’.

Melita Eagles, from Sydney’s Maltese community, changed their
name to Parramata Eagles in an attempt to gain wider recognition. Sydney City,
once the most powerful club in the country moved on from their Jewish origins
but struggled to attract fans

The ethic based National Soccer League was never a long term
proposition. Everyone knew it and everyone knew that clubs needed to appeal to
the whole community and not just one sector of it. But while everyone knew
this, no one wanted to be the first to blink.

When a new football federation was set up they all but
ignored the older, more established clubs. They wanted Australian football,
buoyed by World Cup qualification and the success of exports overseas, to start
from scratch. Out went the old with their history and traditions and in came
the new following a template imposed from on high.

The new teams are struggling. Beyond Melbourne Victory,
crowds are small. Local businessmen have pretty much shunned the game; A League
champions Brisbane Roar were bought out by an Indonesian group who are involved
in several Indonesian clubs as well as a second division Belgian team.

One club owner, so disgusted with the way the game is run,
has threatened to set up a runaway league; another link with the island country
to the north!

Perhaps it is time for the A League to welcome the original
clubs back into the fold? Outright identification with a particular ethnic
group has no place in sport but there is nothing wrong in celebrating your
roots. Europe and South America are littered with clubs whose name, kit or
crest links back to non indigenous founding fathers.

There surely can be no shame in having a team called South
Melbourne, shorn of the Hellas suffix, wearing blue and white and featuring a
Greek flag as part of their badge. But at the same time the clubs must be out
there in their community telling people they belong to them and not just a
certain sector.

By bringing in teams like South Melbourne or Adelaide City,
the A League could go a long way towards dispelling the notion that their
product is as exciting and genuine as a league full of fried chicken franchises
with similar products, uniforms and history.

The league are hoping that the addition of a second team in
Sydney, representing the populous western suburbs, can provide a kick start to
the moribund game but doubts remain. All the while they ignore the crucial link
a football club has with its community the game will continue to struggle in
the shadow of the other codes that dominate the sports in the country.

Saturday, August 04, 2012

Indonesia's Finest Football Ambassadors

Persebaya fans greet their Persitara counterparts

Persebaya’s notorious support, known as Bonek, are in the
news again. This time though the news isn’t about rioting fans or supporters
falling off trains. Instead the news is positive. At a time when Indonesian
football is just another synonym for disaster the fans of Persebaya Surabaya
are being held up as a positive.

Queens Park Rangers are not one of the biggest teams in
England. They are not even one of the biggest in London. But they do now have a
rich owner who happens to come from Malaysia and through that link the west
London team have spent a week or so in South East Asia playing friendlies and
raising their profile.

The tour started in Sabah against a state select team that
featured the likes of Robbie Gaspar, a familiar name in Indonesian football
circles, Titus Bonai, an Indonesian striker who just signed for BEC Tero in
Thailand and Baihakki Khaizan who had spells with Persija, Persib and Medan
Chiefs.

QPR won 5-0. From Sabah they flew from the giant island of
Borneo to the Malay Peninsula for their second friendly against Malaysian
champions Kelantan. The team from the north east of the country are known for
their own passionate support but this game was played in Shah Alam, just
outside Kuala Lumpur. QPR won 5-0.

Next up was Surabaya and the Bonek. Rather like skinheads
and hippies, ‘polite’ society recoil at the mere mention of the word. Thousands
of teenage scamps, street kids and students clad in green sharing a middle
finger to all authority, Bonek are like the boogey man. When they hit town the
inhabitants shutter down for the duration.

Their reputation, like skinheads, punks and hippies,
proceeds them. They are deemed guilty by association. Once, when they played
away to Persib Bandung, TV cameras showed their progress as they travelled by
economy train across the island of Java. Repelled and fascinated at the same
time, viewers found themselves watching speechless as the young fans filled the
coaches of the train and clambered on the roof or clung on to the engine.

The authorities, it seemed, were powerless to stop them. At
various stations along the route local youths spilled out from their kampongs
to throw rocks at the Persebaya fans despoiling their turf and of course the
camera crews were there to beam it to their audience.

Queens Park Rangers knew none of this of course. Joey
Barton, the closest English football has to a Bonek, wasn’t on the trip,
suspended after his behavior away to Manchester City when City won the Premier
League. They were here to play a one off friendly, Surabaya was just the last
game on the tour.

An estimated 1,000 motorcyles followed the QPR team bus, and
motorcycle outriders, out to the Bung Tomo Stadium. Inside the stadium 55,000
fans sang and chanted themselves hoarse. QPR had come to play football; they
left blown away by the home team’s support.

There were massive banners and flags, fireworks,
choreographed displays. For one evening Persebaya’s fearsome Bonek had become
Indonesia’s football ambassadors and the visitors were impressed, taking to the
internet to tell everyone about the incredible evening they had just enjoyed in
indonesia’s second city.

Coming in the week that Everton and Galatasary pulled out of
a trip to Indonesia to compete in the Java Cup, the Bonek at least ensured
football in the country had regained some pride in the eyes of the world.

COMMENT - this was written 25 July for the Jakarta Globe. No idea if they used it or not!

Groundhopping In Indonesia

English football is full of eccentricities. Every match day
up and down the country there are people out there busy adding to their
collection of match day programmes, badges or tickets. Others collect scarves,
pennants or autographs. You name it and there is probably someone out there
somewhere with a sizeable collection of them.

I’m sure if some enterprising club introduced their own
vomit bags, much like airlines do, complete with club crest on them some bright
spark would soon be out there buying them up, getting a few autographed to add
to their value then starting a website about his growing collection.

All those nutters make the 92 Club seem somewhat staid and
normal. The 92 refers to the number of football clubs there are in the top four
divisions of English football; for new converts to English football there are a
further three divisions outside the Premier League and that is how they manage
to promote and relegate clubs.

The aim of the 92 Club is to provide a place for members to
gather and talk about their achievements. And to be a member you must have
attended a competitive football match at each of the 92 stadiums in the
leagues.

Not just any old game. For example, my long trip to the
South West of England to see Plymouth Argyle play Everton would not count
because it was a friendly and the sniffy members don’t recognize such
meaningless games.

Once members have ‘done’ the 92 then they often go on and
cover Scotland, Wales and Irelands or they start visiting as many ‘non league’
grounds as possible where they meet other ‘groundhoppers’ and opine about how
this is real football and the modern game has lost its soul thanks to the
millions of pounds flooding in.

Could Indonesia host a similar club? Unlikely given that it
would mean fans would have to travel from Banda Aceh at the northern most tip
of Sumatra to the highlands of Wamena in Papua with all points in between.
Logistically a nightmare, prohibitively expensive and that is before we try and
track down a reliable fixture list!

In England clubs have their own home stadium, most own them,
and you can be sure when Rochdale have a home game it will be at Spotland.

I have seen PSMS Medan play two home games but never in
Medan! One was in Bandung, the other Jakarta yet they were home games. Their
own stadium was closed for renovations at the time and they were forced to take
to the highways and byways.

What about Pelita Jaya? I have seen them play home games in
three different cities; Purwakarta, Soreang and Karawang. Before that they
played in Solo, Jakarta and Cilegon. How would any groundhopping club in
Indonesia address that?

Last week I saw PSIM Yogyakarta play Persebaya at the
Mandala Krida Stadium in Yogyakarta. To all intents and purposes it was a PSIM
home game. But the game was a play off and in the eyes of the authorities the
stadium was a neutral venue; for them Persebaya were the ‘home’ team!

We’ll round off with Persiram Raja Ampat. The notion of Raja
Ampat glazes the eyes as we consider gorgeous, white sandy beaches and fabulous
diving. I have been to three Persiram home games, one was cancelled at the last
minute as the police on duty were called to a riot elsewhere. The games took
place not way off to the east of Indonesia but in polluted South Jakarta.

The idea of a groundhopping club is an intriguing one but we
are a long way from that. Instead what we have is the occasional European who
makes his way over here and tries to find as many games as possible to visit with
the aid of Facebook.

Yet the ones who have tried this have always returned home
with some unbelievable stories about football in Indonesia and how friendly the
people were once they had overcome their amazement at the foreigner who had
tracked down an amateur game in Sragen!

Singapore League Cup

I bet you woke up this morning thinking what you really needed to know was the latest in the Singapore League Cup. Go on, don't be bashful. you know it;s true. I mean who needs the Olympics when you busting a gut to find out how Gombak United got on against Tampines as they meet for the zillionth time this year.

We're at the quarter final stage and the second leg fixtures kick off today so now is as good a time as any for an update.

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Muang Thong Are Back

Last year was a bit of a non event in Thai football. It had plainly been decided before a ball was even kicked in anger that the teams from a certain city would be allowed to win everything including American Idol and the Boat Race.

For the rest it meant going through the motions. Yes, they were allowed to win games but, heaven forbid, not against the favoured teams from the favoured city.

So you had serial champions Muang Thong United left hiring and firing coaches; they knew no matter who kept the job they were never going to be allowed to win the TPL, and they ended the season with Merseyside's largest landlord Robbie Fowler in the hot seat and playing at the same time.

That's how daft things had gotten in the land of smiles.

This year though, up till now at least, seems different. The two Burirams merged and seem to have decided to concentrate on the AFC Champions League leaving Muang Thong United a free run at the title. For now they are looking back on a run of four consecutive draws.

Home games against TOT and Chainat should see the champions back to winning ways but you can never tell in this league.

19 games in to the season Muang Thong United, who do have an agreement with a company to use their name in the official club name for which they get juicily paid, are unbeaten and 14 points clear of the men from the north east.

Chonburi were hot on their heels but two defeats in their last five games has seen a eight point gap develop between the two.

Last year the events at the Thunderdome, there is an agreement with a company to use their name in the official stadium name for which they get juicily paid, resembled a pantomime with so many people occupying the hot seat no one would have been surprised had Widow Twankey replaced Fowler.

This year they have been able to get on with the football. Eager foreign players have come in recognising an opportunity to kick start their career with the ambitious Thai club rather that washed up pros.

The big three collide towards the end of August. Muang Thong United host the champions on 18 August in front of what should be a bumper crowd while a week later they head to the eastern seaboard to play Chonburi.

The season is scheduled to end in October ahead of the AFF Cup but don't hold your breath. They like their fixture changes in Thailand as much as they like MBA speak in Singapore.